


The Changing of the Tides

by Kaytoko



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, SeiGou - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 14:57:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1391917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaytoko/pseuds/Kaytoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nationals were over. School was out for summer break. And that meant that summer was finally coming to an end. But as she laid out on the warm sand staring up at the wide, starry night sky, Gou couldn’t help but feel a little sad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Changing of the Tides

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I pulled off of my tumblr (kaytoko.tumblr.com) that I thought deserved to be on this account as well.

The summer night was still warm, but there was a hint of chill in the breeze that gently tossed the waves of the ocean just beside where Gou was laying out on the beach. Nationals were over. School was out for summer break. And that meant that summer was finally coming to an end. But as she laid out on the warm sand staring up at the wide, starry night sky, Gou couldn’t help but feel a little sad. 

Sure, all the guys had had a fun time at the joint party Rin and Nagisa had managed to throw together; all the previous feelings of tension between the two teams completely gone after the end of the swim meet. Captain Mikoshiba had been surprisingly accepting of Rin’s defect to swim with Iwatobi, and even brought up the idea of having both teams swim together more often during pre-season himself. It was such a relief, really, to see all of them with such happy expressions, finally able to find peace within each other rather than apart. But Gou couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Maybe not with the boys, per say, but more within herself. 

She gave a quiet sigh and squinted her eyes slightly as she looked up at the sky. Aside from the swim team, all she had been worried about over the last year or so was Rin’s well-being. He had always been a little more reserved after their father’s death, but his return from Australia had been particularly harsh. He had stayed holed up in his room at their house until he moved to the dorms at Samezuka and hardly spoke a word to her the entire time. After she heard about the boys’ encounter with him at the old swimming pool from Nagisa, she had made it a point to contact her brother somehow, someway. But he had never answered her calls, or responded to her messages. She was glad, truly, that Haruka had managed to break his barriers down and bring out the Rin she had always remembered. There was just something about it that made her feel a little…

Lonely.

There were footsteps in the sand somewhere behind her and she tilted her head just a little farther back to see who it was.

"Hey, Gou-kun!" Seijuurou was smiling. "Mind if I join you?"

She pulled a frown, but didn’t have the energy to make it a glare. “Quit calling me Gou-kun. It’s not cute.”  

He kept on smiling, ignoring her response as he went to lay down beside her in the sand. There was a brief moment of silence as they both stared up at the stars. The moment dragged slightly and Gou started squeezing sand between her fingers restlessly while she waited for him to say something. She stole a glance over at him, taking in his relaxed, comfortable posture, his arms tucked under his head as he looked up at the sky with a somewhat reserved expression. She was so used to seeing him with a goofy look on his face, or that dorky, cocky grin that popped up during a meet. It felt unusual for her to see him in a different setting. She never really saw him outside anything having to do with swimming. 

"Y’know," he said calmly, startling her out of her reverie. She blushed slightly, hoping he didn’t notice her staring. "Sometimes," he continued on, "I feel like it’s impossible for us to be the only living things out there in the universe." She blinked slightly in fuzzy confusion before turning her eyes back up to the stars. "It’s hard not to imagine the different worlds there are out there living lives we’ll never know. Making a difference. Hanging out with friends." He glanced at her, his trademark grin lifting up his lips slightly in amusement. "Swimming." 

She let her lips turn up slightly at his joke, but kept her eyes on the stars. After a moment, he turned to look back himself, continuing the thought on his mind. “There’s trillions of stars out there. So many different worlds. So many different possibilities,” he said. “And yet here we are, lying on a beach, thinking about how sad it is that summer’s finally coming to an end.” 

Gou gave a small snort through her nose at the turn in his narrative, turning a slightly amused grin towards him. His gold eyes caught hold of hers and for a moment, her heart fluttered in her chest. His lips turned up slightly, not in a smirk, but in a smile. 

"I think, what I’m really trying to say here is that there’s a million different possibilities, but we’re here right now and we should live in the moment while we still can." His eyes dipped slightly, and he boldly reached out to take Gou’s hand into his own. Her heart leaped to her throat and she could feel the creeping blush growing warm as it crawled up her neck. His fingers were a little rough along the pads, but warm and comforting. She felt as though she were hyper-aware of each brush of his fingers against hers; the gentle movement of his thumb against the back of her hand bringing goosebumps up along her arm. 

"I know you’ve been worried about Rin," he said. She blinked then, surprised by the sudden change in topic. Her heart still felt light in her chest, but it felt as though a small rock had joined it in the pit of her stomach. She glanced uncomfortably back over at Seijuurou’s eyes. They were serious, but surprisingly understanding. 

"Has it been that obvious?" she asked, her voice coming out in a soft squeak.

"Maybe not to others," he responded. "But I can see the way it worries you not to talk to him. He hasn’t been the most receptive to the people around him. Not lately, at least," he admitted. "But I think if you try to talk to him now, he will finally open up to you."

Gou let his works sink in for a long moment, something deep within her warming at the thought of Samezuka’s Captain spending enough time watching her to realize what had truly been bothering her lately. His words had been beautiful and thoughtful, and quite honestly, everything she needed to hear in that moment. She felt so touched for a brief moment that her eyes teared up slightly from the heavy emotion. But in the end, she turned back to him and smiled, intertwining her fingers with his. 

"Thank you, Captain Mikoshiba," she said softly. "But I think maybe I’ll let Rin wait just one more day before I go talk to him." She met his eyes, taking in his slightly surprised expression and the faint blush on his cheeks. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, her heart still fluttering in her chest. "I want to try living in the moment while I still can, if that’s okay with you."

His expression shifted slightly, that dorky grin she knew coming back on his face as he blushed. “Y-Yeah. Yeah, sure, that’d be… Great.” 

She laughed at his flustered response and felt his hand squeeze hers slightly. Sure, it was the end of Nationals, and that meant the end of summer. But for the first time since she realized things were coming to an end, Gou felt optimistic for things to change. She could look to a new tomorrow, knowing that things wouldn’t really be  _all_  that different. And what would change, would change for the better. And as she laid on the beach on one of the last warm summer nights listening to the waves lap against the beach, her eyes toward the starry skies and her hand intertwined with Seijuurou’s, she couldn’t help but feel a little happy about life.


End file.
